So this is going to show up just how little I know about photography but…

When I go away next year, most of the photos I take of my adventures are just going to be low effort photos of sights/experiences that are just for my own memories and don’t need to be high quality.

There is going to be some times that I’m going to want a nicer higher quality shot though. I don’t want to spend loads on a camera (if anything at all) and would prefer to use my phone camera (which given how far they’ve developed in recent years should be fine for my own photos).

I’m going to get a mini, foldaway, travel tripod like thing to make sure I can get steady shots, especially if I put one on slow shutter speed (is that right? where you get the blur?)

My main question is, in some of the places I’m staying, the stars are going to be phenomenal. There will be no street lights/city lights around for miles and miles so I’m expecting great skies. If I wanted to get a photo of this, what’s the best way to try it?

So this is going to show up just how little I know about photography but…

When I go away next year, most of the photos I take of my adventures are just going to be low effort photos of sights/experiences that are just for my own memories and don’t need to be high quality.

There is going to be some times that I’m going to want a nicer higher quality shot though. I don’t want to spend loads on a camera (if anything at all) and would prefer to use my phone camera (which given how far they’ve developed in recent years should be fine for my own photos).

I’m going to get a mini, foldaway, travel tripod like thing to make sure I can get steady shots, especially if I put one on slow shutter speed (is that right? where you get the blur?)

My main question is, in some of the places I’m staying, the stars are going to be phenomenal. There will be no street lights/city lights around for miles and miles so I’m expecting great skies. If I wanted to get a photo of this, what’s the best way to try it?

If you want to get shots of the night sky you’re going to have to buy a camera and not use your phone as you need to change the shutter speed. Also phone sensors are too small for decent low light photography (which is why pics people take on nights out are crap but you can get a decent landscape shot in sunshine). You’re right that you’ll need a tripod and a shutter speeds around 10-20 seconds. You can get a fairly straightforward bridge camera for around £150-£200. Check it has optical zoom, not digital zoom, but I think all bridge cameras do.

If you want decent star pictures you can select an auto setting on most cameras that is designed for it, but for best results get someone to show you how to use the manual setting.

My Dad’s really into photography, so I might ask him. He’s the sort of person that will know where to pick up a second hand one for cheap that’s still nice and reliable (other than ebay)

I had the one up from this when I went travelling before I became properly into photography. You’ll get some good pictures from it.

2nd hand gear is a good way to go. Photographers tend to look after their stuff. Also, you may find some better cameras become available at 2nd hand prices. If you can stretch to a basic DSLR with an APS-C size sensor you’ll get even better results.

My Dad’s really into photography, so I might ask him. He’s the sort of person that will know where to pick up a second hand one for cheap that’s still nice and reliable (other than ebay)

I had the one up from this when I went travelling before I became properly into photography. You’ll get some good pictures from it.

2nd hand gear is a good way to go. Photographers tend to look after their stuff. Also, you may find some better cameras become available at 2nd hand prices. If you can stretch to a basic DSLR with an APS-C size sensor you’ll get even better results.

Awesome. I’ll see what I can stretch my budget to.
I don’t want to go too overboard as I know that most of my personal photos will just be phone shots.
It’s just for things that I know my phone won’t really capture.

Yeah that camera you posted up is fairly decent, I actually teach photography and we were using those at my previous school. Personally I would avoid 2nd hand on that bridge type of camera (not a camera you change lens on but a better lens than a compact) as they tend to not be as robustly built as a DSLR.

So my work decided they no longer wanted to pay for an freelance photographer to take lettings photos as it doesn’t make much of a difference all in all

I was the one given the job to take over despite me knowing extremely little about photography. I’ve been doing it for a little while but, even though it doesn’t actually make a difference, I’d like to get better at it than I am right now

Does anyone know any good resources for beginners? Preferably not hugely expensive?

So my work decided they no longer wanted to pay for an freelance photographer to take lettings photos as it doesn’t make much of a difference all in all

I was the one given the job to take over despite me knowing extremely little about photography. I’ve been doing it for a little while but, even though it doesn’t actually make a difference, I’d like to get better at it than I am right now

Does anyone know any good resources for beginners? Preferably not hugely expensive?

There’s a ton of free videos on youtube. If work are willing to pay you could do worse than go on the Jessops Level 1 course (which is around £100 I think) if they have a store near you. About 6 hours, they go through all the basics on how to use a camera. I found it easier having someone who could actually show you and point out where you’re going wrong.

Some nice images there from you too, put the environmental agency person to shame. How did they get how of your images btw?

I’d tweeted them and someone from the local BBC news asked if they could use them. I thought about trying to sell them, but there were a ton of pictures going round as I was standing with about 100 other people when these were taken and they were all taking pictures of their own so I figured they’d use someone else’s for free if not mine.

Ah right, sorry to keep asking questions but how did you get them to your twitter account quick enough to get on a news site? or was there a bit of a delay.

There was a bit of a delay. I got home and uploaded them from my computer. Although if I had been desperate to get them up quick I could have sent them from my camera to my phone using the camera wifi and uploaded them while I was still there

When I was younger I had an interest in photography, but never really got into it as much as I liked. I think i’d like to take it up again though. Problem is, I would have no idea where to start with what camera to get, what I would need etc.

I’d love to find a way of perhaps going out with a camera I purchase, then being able to quickly put them onto my Mac easily, or sent to my phone for storage and viewing. I actually work for a company who designs and produces cameras for the automotive industry, but that’s a different ball game altogether really. I guess if you are going to spend decent money on a camera, you’d really want to know what you are buying.

When I was younger I had an interest in photography, but never really got into it as much as I liked. I think i’d like to take it up again though. Problem is, I would have no idea where to start with what camera to get, what I would need etc.

I’d love to find a way of perhaps going out with a camera I purchase, then being able to quickly put them onto my Mac easily, or sent to my phone for storage and viewing. I actually work for a company who designs and produces cameras for the automotive industry, but that’s a different ball game altogether really. I guess if you are going to spend decent money on a camera, you’d really want to know what you are buying.

You can pick up a good quality dslr for about £300-£350. Nikon (the D3300) and Canon (the EOS 1300D) both make decent models. They come with a kit lens with an 18-55mm focal range which is good for landscapes and portraits. Kind of lens you’d want on holiday. I can’t recommend the Nikon one highly enough to anyone wanting to get into photography. Has a detachable lens so you can buy new lens for it later on if you really get in to it.

When I was younger I had an interest in photography, but never really got into it as much as I liked. I think i’d like to take it up again though. Problem is, I would have no idea where to start with what camera to get, what I would need etc.

I’d love to find a way of perhaps going out with a camera I purchase, then being able to quickly put them onto my Mac easily, or sent to my phone for storage and viewing. I actually work for a company who designs and produces cameras for the automotive industry, but that’s a different ball game altogether really. I guess if you are going to spend decent money on a camera, you’d really want to know what you are buying.

You can pick up a good quality dslr for about £300-£350. Nikon (the D3300) and Canon (the EOS 1300D) both make decent models. They come with a kit lens with an 18-55mm focal range which is good for landscapes and portraits. Kind of lens you’d want on holiday. I can’t recommend the Nikon one highly enough to anyone wanting to get into photography. Has a detachable lens so you can buy new lens for it later on if you really get in to it.

Literally just been looking at reviews of the Canon 1300D model. Looks decent. It shoots videos at 30fps, and having worked with outputs of 60fps and 30fps, once you’ve seen the difference, you’ll never not see it. I’m certainly going to take a look at the Nikon tomorrow and look into it seriously before making a decision.

I have a Nikon 3200’ if you’ve worked with decent cameras before might be worth knowing the sound quality on the lower priced slr is poor, even with an attached mic you get a lot of body and mechanical noise.

Photo wise can’t speak highly enough of them. Think there may even be a d3400 out now?

Ah right, sorry to keep asking questions but how did you get them to your twitter account quick enough to get on a news site? or was there a bit of a delay.

There was a bit of a delay. I got home and uploaded them from my computer. Although if I had been desperate to get them up quick I could have sent them from my camera to my phone using the camera wifi and uploaded them while I was still there

Cheers by the way, I appreciate I had gone into full autism spectrum mode there.

I have a Nikon 3200’ if you’ve worked with decent cameras before might be worth knowing the sound quality on the lower priced slr is poor, even with an attached mic you get a lot of body and mechanical noise.

Photo wise can’t speak highly enough of them. Think there may even be a d3400 out now?

Ah right, sorry to keep asking questions but how did you get them to your twitter account quick enough to get on a news site? or was there a bit of a delay.

There was a bit of a delay. I got home and uploaded them from my computer. Although if I had been desperate to get them up quick I could have sent them from my camera to my phone using the camera wifi and uploaded them while I was still there

Cheers by the way, I appreciate I had gone into full autism spectrum mode there.

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